Chapter 1947: Chapter 1941: The Cause of Extinction

Lu Ping’an’s exploration team was quite successful, at least much more so than those unlucky ones who “died and came back.”

The reason is simple: the ashamed and angry Sword Saint is truly an excellent excavator… ahem, Zhi Xi and her guards easily completed most of the combat tasks.

Lu Ping’an also tried to make a move, but the results were quite subtle.

“Full physical resistance, almost immune to flames, tsk, what a troublesome natural enemy…”

Lu Ping’an’s strength, slashing speed, and spatial abilities are not considered strong at the same level. Currently, this rule-level avatar is capable of mass killings, but the efficiency can’t compare to the outstanding female Sword Saint.

“It’s clear to see that this civilization was once glorious…”

And Lu Ping’an’s rule-level exploration team had a relatively smooth journey, especially with Xia Qin equipped with the Shining Stone Long Blade, slicing those Stone Demon Monsters was as easy as cutting through a small child.

Soon, they arrived at the first landmark mentioned in the previous documents.

It was a super giant furnace, where the lava flowing from deep within the volcano converged in this place, meeting in the massive furnace. Even now, Lu Ping’an could hear the slow and steady sound of mechanical gears.

It seemed that it was the flowing lava, pushing the still operable components, creating a rusty-sounding echo.

Beside the furnace, countless conveyor belts had come to a halt, filled only with fragments of Stone Demon Monsters.

Estimating a bit, there were at least hundreds of giant conveyor belts. They might have been using the furnace’s power for deep processing… Lu Ping’an could even feel the extraordinary power within them, that strange and sacred external pattern, obviously endowed with peculiar power.

Just this scene made one subconsciously assess the prosperity of this city at its peak. The giant facilities scattered on the ground, many of which looked like integrated large ships and wagons… According to the data, this was a civilization capable of constructing airships.

It seemed they were using an assembly line to build ships.

The research group immediately began conducting field studies. Some started recording those magic lines, while others attempted to reconstruct the giant furnace’s structural diagram through data and designs, but Lu already knew they were probably destined to fail.

“This is the heart….”

Lu Ping’an made a judgment, which was likely correct.

No need for verification, this Underground City should be transformed from a Giant Ancient God. What puzzled Lu Ping’an, however, was the overly crude reality of this Underground City.

He could see that with a civilization as the keystones, it was too “unrefined” here.

“The walls lack any decoration, completely different from Cloud City. If that can still be explained, these crude and chaotic pipelines, clearly unplanned, that seemingly magnificent furnace, and production line seem too rough…. Without mechanical arms and processing facilities, how much manpower would it take to keep these production lines running?”

As an old stager in some aspects of cultivation, Lu Ping’an noticed the crudeness, it did not resemble a peaceful home, but instead…

“A frontline production base temporarily constructed for a certain war.”

This did not match the data. According to the tomb guardians’ records, this should be one of the most prosperous cities of the Giants.

“…. Lu Ping’an, it’s found.”

And at this moment, another exploration team contacted Lu Ping’an’s main body.

“What was found?”

Things seemed to be going smoothly on Xue En’s side, seeming to have found the so-called Great Graveyard.

Then, they might also have found relevant knowledge.

“It’s wrong, this is not the tomb guardians’ Great Graveyard…”

“Huh? Then what is it, why are so many ‘soul lamps’ pointing there?”

“That is the burial ground of the remaining family… It is the place where ancient people were massacred. They are not tomb guardians of knowledge but crystallizations of knowledge that couldn’t dissipate after they were killed.”

The specifics piqued Lu Ping’an’s interest, but it didn’t seem like the right time to elaborate now. Lu Ping’an was more eager to know about this side of things, the still struggling Underground City.

And on the other side, the tomb guardians, also responded to Lu Ping’an’s inquiries in simple words.

“We’ve found the truth of the Giants’ extinction.”

“It was a disease, a disease that fell from the sky, an ‘Petrification Disease’ that could not be resisted….”

The words were laden with information. The more he listened, the more Lu Ping’an understood this world’s disdain for history… If these things were truly passed down, I’m afraid that as one group after another developed, the first thing they’d want to do is to ‘slay the heavens’.

The Giants were very powerful, their individual strength was astonishing, they were naturally adept in using Elemental Power, and excellent in teamwork, virtually without weaknesses.

Such beings, if truly developed, probably wouldn’t leave room for the next generation of “new races”, but they still perished, due to a sudden illness without any forewarning.

“Though called the Petrification Disease, what’s petrified isn’t the flesh, but the mind… It causes giants to gradually lose their emotions, then their self, until finally, in lack of anything to care about, they self-destruct and turn to stone.”

Now, looking at those emotionless Stone Demon Monsters in front of him, Lu Ping’an realized.

Perhaps, when life has no emotions and motivations as the source of action, using ‘logic’ to drive its actions is also possible.

So, were the originally living beings actively transformed into ‘biological computers’?

Then, this vengeance truly has a justification.

A virus capable of leaving an entire ethnic group defenseless… Lu Ping’an only thought of a Heavenly Punishment, as if the world wanted to exterminate this ethnic group.

Individuals of each ethnic group, losing emotions and motivations, eventually turning into Stone Statues—it’s chilling just to think about it.

And the strong Giant Ethnic Group, clearly made some level of resistance.

If this is truly a virus, then perhaps it might not be resistible…..

“Their king of the Fire Giant Clan, referred to as ‘Samudink’ in the records, abandoned his physical body, turning into a Stone Statue while still maintaining self-consciousness, and submerged his body into the magma, using his fresh Divine Realm to resist the erosion of Foreign Domain rules…..”

The Divine Realm can mutually resist each other. If it were a virus, perhaps it could pierce the Abyss, but if it were a World Rules change, forcibly anchoring a curse of “Giants will turn into emotionless and demotivated stone”, then, within this area wrapped by fresh, it’s really possible to somewhat resist the Curse.

Then, as the true Doomsday Fortress, the chaos here can be understood.

Now, Lu Ping’an, who initially wasn’t very interested, suddenly gained motivation.

“There might be a treasure left by an ethnic group at their last stand below… No wonder those Stone Demon Monsters out there were coming for it. It’s their ancestors’ legacy.”